


PRESERVATION OF WOOD 



COAL-TAR AND ITS PRODUCTS. 



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THE 



PRESERVATION OF WOOD 



COAL-TAR AND ITS PRODUCTS, 



AS APPLIED BY 



JOHN BETHELL, OP ENGLAND, 



LOUIS S. ROBBINS, OP AMERICA. 



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NEW YORK: 

PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF 

THE NATIONAL PATENT WOOD PRESERVING COMPANY. 

1869. 









<'S 



PATENT ¥00D PEESEEVING CO. 

(Owning the Robbins Process). 

OFEIOES: 163 BROADWAY, NEW YORK 



Hon. J. EICHAKD BAEKET, 
HENEY STEEES, - 
EUGENE KELLY, 
L. H. EOBBINS, 



President. 

Yice-Pkesident. 

Tkeasueeb. 

Secketaky. 



BOARD OF DIIiEOTORS. 

HON. J. RICHAED BAEEET, 

New York. 

FEANCIS MOEEIS, 
Treaatirer of the American Telegraph Company. 

GEK A. S. DIYEN, 
Vice-President of the Erie Raflway Company. 

SILAS SEYMOUE, 
Consulting and Chief Engineer of the TTnion Pacific Hailroad Ga 

HENEY STEEES, 

Shipbuilder, New York. 

HON. WILLIAM SPEAGUE, 
Ehode Island, U. S. Senator. 

WILLIAM OGDEN GILES, 

Merchant, New York. 

CHAELES WATEOUS, 

Lumber Merchant (firm Willson & Watrous), New Yodc. 

EOLLIN MATHEWSON, 

Counsellor-at-Law, New York. 



THE PRESERVATION OF WOOD. 



The increasing demand for lumber, with the multiplication of 
the arts and growth of population of this country, and the rapid 
disappearance of our immense forests, may well turn the atten- 
tion of the thoughtful to some means of preserving wood from 
decay^ 

Experiments made in England and elsewhere, under direction 
of governments, and by men of science, and continued through :i 
series of years, under every variety of circumstance, have con- 
clusively demonstrated that the dead oil of coal-tar will preserve 
wood and lumber from mould and decay, and also from the rava- 
ges of insects, the Teredo Navalis (naval worm) included. 

The creosote of coal-tar (carbolic acid) is a powerful antiseptic, 
and prevents the putrefaction of the sap. The oil, when forced 
into the pores of the wood, furnishes resistance to moisture, and 
thus protects the fibre. 

The Bethell Process, which consisted in forcing liquid coal-tnr 
into the wood by mechanical pressure, was invented by John 
Bethell, of England, in the year 1838. Wood treated by this 
process, and exposed to decaying influences, has already lasted 
twenty- five years and upwards, and still shows no signs of decay 
having commenced. Such having been the result, not in a single 
instance only, but in every case where the treatment has been 
properly made, it is not unreasonable to infer that wood thus 
treated will last for centuries. 

The Bethell process, however, is expensive and difficult of 
application, and can only be used for coarse out-door work, such 
as bridge-timber, piers, railroad ties, etc. The machinery required 
to force the liquid oil into the wood is complicated and expensive, 
and demands skilful and scientific manipulation. 

Mr. Robbins, the American inventor, profiting by the expe- 
rience of Bethell, and accepting the testimony of all scientific 
and practical men to the efficacy of coal-tar and its products for 



preserving wood, invented, in 1865, the method of applying them 
which is known as "The Robbins Process," and which is now 
admitted to be the most simple, cheap, expeditious, and effectual 
that can be devised. 

By this process the wood is placed in an air-tight iron chamber 
connected with which is a still containing the oil of coal-tar. 
Heat being applied to the still, the oil is converted into vapor and 
made to pass into the chamber containing the wood. These 
vapors drive the air out of the chamber, out of the pores of 
the wood, coagulate the albumen of the sap, completely fill the 
material with creosote or carbolic acid, and then the fibrous portions 
of the wood are saturated with the vapors of the oil. They con- 
dense in the wood, and thus prime it, and furnish a coating 
which protects the fibre against moisture. 

The wood thus treated is cured, as a ham is cured, by smoke. 
It is tanned, as a hide is tanned, by the use of tannic acid. 

The apparatus is very inexpensive, costing from $500 upward 
— according to size. It is very simple, can be managed by any 
common laborer, and made portable, so as to be moved from 
point to point on railroads. 

The wood, thus treated, is seasoned or cured, primed with oil, 
preserved from decay, and at the same time additional strength 
is given to the fibre. The surface of the wood is not offensively 
soiled, and hence can be used not only for railway ties, street 
pavements, bridge timbers, piers, sidewalks, fences, wharves, 
telegraph poles, posts, trestles, and stakes for vines, plank- 
roads, timbers for levees, and shingles, but also for doors, sashes, 
blinds, furniture, agricultural implements, carriages, hubs, spokes, 
ship-building, and every thing else made of wood, " from the 
cradle to the coffin." 

It is noteworthy that Bethell's Process is merely the forerun- 
ner of Robbins' Process. Bethell used coal-tar oils ; Robbins 
also uses coal-tar oils. Bethell required the filling of the wood 
pores with creosote oils; Robbins demands the same condition. 
Bethell attained his aim but partially; Robbins achieves the 
thorough saturation of p,ll lumber with the preservative elements 
which were only partially introduced by Bethell. Bethell availed 
himself of the crude liquid creosote oils; Robbins uses the re- 
fined vapors of those oils. Bethell carried on his imperfect 
process expensively ; Robbins performs his treatment thoroughly 
and inexpensively. Bethell's Process could n)ake use only of 



seasoned timber ; Robbius' Process is applied to either seasoned 
or green wood. 

Tlie following pages contain some of the many testimonials 
that have been given by eminent engineers and other scientific 
and practical men of Europe and America to the eflicacy of coal- 
tar, as applied by the Bethell process in England and the Robbins 
process in America. 



TBSTIMOISriALS. 



TESTIMONIALS TO THE BETHELL PROCESS 



London and North Westsen Eatlwat, Pebmanent Wat Depabtment, 
Head Office, Staffobd, July llth^ 1856. 

Sir : In answer to your letter requesting* information (for tlie use of the 
Commissioners of the Exposition about to be opened at Brussels) as to the 
success of your creosoting' process in preserving railway sleepers, I have t;0 
inform you that about seventeen miles of the railway from Manchester to 
Crewe, belonging to this Company, are laid with creosoted American fir 
sleepers : part of these were laid in 1840, and the res* in 1843, since which 
time we have not had one instance in which decay has been detected in 
these creosoted sleepers; and upon our relaying the line, we have used 
over again all the old creosoted sleepers that were not split, instead of new 
sleepers. 

Yours truly, (Signed) Henry Woodhouse. 



Gebat Eastern Eailway, July lUh., 1856. 

Sir : I have been fourteen years engaged in superintending the permanent 
way of the Eastern Counties Railway, near Burnt Mill Station, and have 
during the whole of that time constantly observed the creosoted Scotch fir 
sleepers laid down there in May, 1840. 

I can fully testify that the whole of those sleepers are now as sound and 
perfect as when laid down, and the creosote oil seems as fresh in them now 
as ever. 

I have sent you herewith some specimens of those sleepers, and all the 
sleepers are as good as these specimens. 

I am, sir, your obedient servant, (Signed) Samuel Dawson. 



Beedgewatee, August 28th, 1856. 

Sir : I have for the last seven to eight years been constantly engaged as 
superintendent over the carpenters employed in keeping in repair the wood 
bridges on the Bristol and Exeter Eailway. 

In many of these bridges a great deal of your creosoted timber was used, 
which has been in use now upwards of fourteen years, and I can testify that 
every piece of creosoted wood in them is now perfectly sound and free from 
decay. Your obedient servant, (Signed) John Dyer. 



Letth Haebob, CASTLBMn^ Place, Glasgow 

Uth August, 185T. 

Sir : The timber for the extensive new piers at Leith Harbor, completed 
in 1854, was all previously prepared by your process of creosoting. 

A short time previous to my recent departure from Leith, and whUe resident 
engineer of the harbor, I made a minute examination of the piles of the 
piers, and was happy to find that, after the lapse of about six years, I could 
not discover any flaws from the attacks of the sea-worm. 



10 

I may likewise mention that, for the purpose of testing the efficacy of 
creosoting', I placed at various periods .several pieces of uncreosoted timber 
alongside the creosoted, and found that the former were completely per- 
forated by the worm in two years' time . 

I am, yours respectfully, (Signed) Thomas Macleak, 

CivU EngiTieer. 

Manchester, Sheffteld, aitd Lincolnshiee Eail-wat, 
Geeat Geimsby Dock, 

Engineee'8 Office, August 2Qth, 185T. 

Bear Sir : I am very glad to bear testimony to the very satisfactory result 
your process of creosoting has had upon the hundreds of piles used in the 
construction of Piers of the Tidal Basin for the entrance to the Grimsby 
Docks, which has been done for seven years : none of the timber which was 
creosoted is in the least decayed or affected by the worm, whereas, other 
piles, which were driven alongside by mistake, and not having undergone 
your process of creosoting, have been nearly destroyed by the worms, and 
are also considerably decayed. I can highly recommend the process as be- 
ing a most sure and perfect preventive against all sea-worms and decay 
in timber ; but much depends upon the oil being properly injected into the 
timber, to produce a satisfactory effect. 

I am, dear sir, yours truly, (Signed) Adam Smith, 

Dock Engineer. 



Portland Beeakwatee, 

Engineee's Office, Poktland, 
Uth August, 1857. 

Dear Sir : In reply to your letter of the 22d inst. , making inquiry as to 

the efficacy of creosoted wood in resisting the attacks of sea-worms, I am 

happy to be able to inform you that, so far as our experience will enable 

me to speak, the result of the impregnation of the timber with creosote has 

been most successful and satisfactory. 

***** * 

As an instance of the successful application of creosote, I may mention 
that about two months since it became necessary to remove some piles that 
had been down four years, and fully exposed from above the level of high 
water to nearly fifty-five feet under sea water ; there was no sign wTiatecer 
of any attacks by sea-worms^ notwithstanding that we have " Teredo na- 
valis" and " Limnoria terebrans" in the bay, the latter in great numbers, 
and most destructive to unprepared timber. I have known three-inch plank 
unprepared eaten quite through by them in about three years, at a point 
not very far from the site of the piles alluded to. 

I am, yours truly, (Signed) John Coode, 

Engineer-in- Chief. 

DuTon-RHENisn Pailtvat. 

Driebeegen, ^th April, 1868. 

Sir : In answer to your inquiry relative to the timber prepared according 
to your process, the so-called " Creosoting Process," I beg to inform you 
that in the year 1844, during the construction of our line, 10,561 cubic me- 
tres of timber were creo?oted at Utrecht, and laid between Utrecht and 
Veenendaal, the oil for which, distilled and delivered by you, has proved 
of the best quality. 

In 1855-57, with the extension of our line to Germany, in connection 
with the Cologne and Minden Railway, and consequent alteration to the 
narrow gauge, the timber creosoted and laid in 1844 was taken up and 
found as sound and perfect as when first laid, and consequently used over 
again, while uncreosoted timber close by has been obliged to be renewed 
two or three times during the same period. 



11 

We fully expect the same favorable result from the timber requured foi 
our extensive works in course of construction at Rotterdam, now creoso- 
ting, and during the past year creosoted at your creosoting establishment at 
Fijnord, Rotterdam, 

I remain, Sir, 

Your obedient servant, 
(Signed) G. Freem, 

Chief Inspector, Dutch-Rhenish Railway. 

Manchester, 14^7i August, 1865. 

Denr Sir : I commenced creosoting timber in 1846, and for some months 
marked the ends of the sleepers with a V tool. Some thousands were so 
done in order that I might the more readily watch them, and trace the 
result. 

Last month I visited a portion of the line which had been laid with these 
sleepers in 1846, and I am glad to be able to report that the whole are as 

FRESH AND SOUND AS WHEN FIRST LAID DOWN, NOT THE LEAST SIGN OF 
DECAY BEING APPARENT. 

During a period extending over upwards of nineteen years I have creosoted 
about one million of sleepers, and large quantities of timber of various kinds, 
and from all my experience, gained during that time, I would strongly re- 
commend to be creosoted all timber to be placed in exposed situations, such 
as sleepers, telegraph posts, lamp posts, fencing, &c. , &c. 

I remain, dear sir, yours very truly, R. Badge. 

P, S. The creosoted road generally wears out three or four sets of rails in 
as well as out of tunnels ; and when the main line is relaid, and such sleep- 
ers are taken out, they are used again for sidings and branches. I find that 
about one per cent, get spHt at the ends, and so rendered useless for their 
original purpose, but they are then sold for gate posts, fencing, &c. , and are 
much sought after. 

At a meeting of the Institution of Civil Engineers in London, in May, 
1850, Mr. Brunei and Mr. Hawkshaw, the eminent engineers, remarked a? 
follows : 

Mr, Britnel beHeved that longitudinal timbers, thoroughly creosoted, and 
properly put together, were at least as durable as the iron rails; and he 
might even say that, under certain circumstances, the timber would last the 
longest. He behoved that, with fair usage, the timber would be more durable 
than the iron, so that he did not agree in the desirability of abandoning 
timber and adopting iron for sleepers. 

He must expressly state his convictions, that, at the expiration of forty 
years, well-creosoted longitudiQal timbers would be found in a sound and 
serviceable condition, 

Mr, Hawkshaw had arrived at the conclusion that well-creosoted longi- 
tudinal timber sleepers, with heavy malleable iron raUs, formed the best and 
most durable line ; it was the cheapest in the first cost and in subsequent 
maintenance, and was least injurious to the rolling stock. — Institution of 
Civil Engineers' Minutes, Vol. ix. , pp. 403-5. 

At a meeting on January 11th, 1853 — 

Mr, Hawkshaw said he had tried all the principal systems, and would 
not generally adopt any except creosoting. Kyan's was inefficient, Bur- 
nett's was not satisfactory, and Payne's rendered the wood brittle. He had 
certainly never seen an instance of decay in creosoted timber, even in the 
most unfavorable position. — Institution of Civil Engineers' Minutes, Vol. 
xii., p. 230. 

In the Report presented by the Minister of Public Works in Belgium in 



12 

May, 1860, to the Legislative Assembly, respecting the operations of the 
State Railways in the year 1862, it is stated as follows : 

Page 12. — " In 1862 a special commission was instituted to determine the 
state of preservation of the sleepers which, before being put into use, have 
been the object of preparations destined to prolong their duration. The re- 
sult of this commission has been to persuade the government to give up en- 
tirely the process Boucherie, and for the future to abide by the using. 1st, 
of oak sleepers in their natural state, or which have been submitted to the 
preparation of the creosoted oils; 2d, of beech sleepers, or red pine, pre- 
pared after the same process." 

In the spring of 1865 a very careful examination was made by the authori- 
ties of all the creosoted sleepers, and they found that all these sleepers (al- 
though some of them had been in use 19 years) were perfectly sound and 
fresh, and in consequence the Belgian government decided to have aU their 
sleepers creosoted in future. 

Cologne and Minden Railway. 

Hitherto it has not been necessary to renew any of the sleepers or timbers 
used in bridges that were impregnated with creosote oil, the sleepers that 
were laid down in 1849 being in as good condition as ever. On the Dutch 
Railways, also, creosoted sleepers have proved very durable for twelve years, 
and creosoted timber has been employed there also for water- works. — Eisen- 
hahnzeitung^ No. 29, 1857. 

Lowestoft Habbok, Noefolk. 

The earliest wood creosoted, and exposed to the sea in harbors, was used 
at Lowestoft ; and Mr. Sinclair, the engineer to that harbor, made the fol- 
lowing statement at the Engineers' Institute, on April 5th, 1859, regard- 
ing it : — 

At the meeting at the Institution of Civil Engineers, Mr. T. E. Harrison 
remarked, that the entrance gates of the Monk-Wearmouth docks at Sunder- 
land, which had been constructed of yellow pine, creosoted twenty years 
ago by Mr. Brunei, were quite sound, but portions of Kyanized timber, used 
in the same works, had been attacked by the worm to a considerable ex- 
tent. 

Creosote is the only antiseptic which has the property of augmenting the 
density of wood, and thence its resistaTice to mechanical actions. A fir sleeper 
of ordinary size has a volume of 0.70 M.C., and weighs 40 k. After its in- 
jection with creosote its weight is 65 K. and it has acquired a density equal 
to that of oak. This property admits the use of white-wood sleepers under 
the joint cushions, and along the inclined plane dei Giovi, where sleepers 
injected with metallic salts were obliged to be taken up after a few days on 
account of the cushion having become embedded on the wood. — Report oj 
O. Alby, C.E.., to the Committee ordered by the Sardinian Government to con- 
sider the relative merits of the different processes for preserving wood. — Tu- 
rin, 1860. 

At an examination made by the Commissioners of the Leith Pier and 
Harbor Works, in March, 1862, the whole of the main piles in the pier, 
1,013 in number, which had been creosoted, and placed in position twelve 
years before, were found to be in as sound a condition as when first laid 
down, it being well ascertained that the same timber, uncreosoted, would 
have been totally destroyed in four years. 

In his evidence given before the Select Committee on Harbors of Re- 
fuge, Mr, Abemethy said : 

I am convinced that timber, when creosoted, is not subject to the action 



13 

of the worm, as far as my actual observation goes, and in that case proba- 
bly I am understating" it when I say it would last for half a century at least. 

Dr. Andrew Ure, in the second volume of his "Dictionary of Arts," etc., 
one of the highest authorities upon scientific subjects, remarlts of the results 
of the Bethell Process : — 

' ' The effect produced is that of perfectly coagulating the albumen in the 
sap, thus preventing its putrefaction. For the wood that will be much ex- 
posed to the weather, and alternately wet and dry, the mere coagulation of 
the sap is not sufficient ; for although the albumen contained in the sap of 
the wood is the most liable and the first to putrefy, yet the ligneous fibre it- 
self, after it has been deprived of all sap, will, when exposed in a warm, 
damp situation, rot and crumble into dust. To preserve wood, therefore, 
that will be much exposed to the weather it is not only necessary that the 
sap should be coagulated, but that the fibres should be protected from mois- 
ture, which is effectually done by this process. 

' ' The atmospheric action on wood thus prepared renders it tougher, and 
infinitely stronger. A post made of beech, or even of Scotch fir, is rendered 
more durable, and as strong as one made of the best oak, the bituminous 
mixture with which all its pores are filled acting as a cement to bind the 
fibres together in a close tough mass ; and the more porous the wood is, the 
more durable and tough it becomes, as it imbibes a greater quantity of the 
bituminous oil, which is proved by its increased weight. The materials 
which are injected preserve iron and other metals from corrosion ; and an 
iron bolt driven into wood so saturated, remains perfectly sound and free 
from rust. It also resists the attack of insects ; and it has been proved by 
Mr. Pritchard, at Shoreham Harbor, that the teredo navalis, or naval worm, 
will not touch it. 

' ' Wood thus prepared for sleepers, piles, posts, fencing, etc, , is not at all 
affected by alternate exposure to wet and dry ; it requires no painting, and 
after it has been exposed to the air for some days, it loses every unpleasant 
smell. 

" This process has been adopted by the following eminent engineers, viz. : 
Mr, Kobert Stephenson, Mr. Brunei, Mr. Bidder, Mr. Brathwaite, Mr. Buck, 
Mr, Harris, Mr. Wickstead, Mr. Pritchard, and others ; and has been used 
with the greatest success on the G-reat Western Railway, the Bristol and Ex- 
eter Eailway, the Manchester and Birmingham Railway, the IS'orth Eastern, 
the South *jastem, the Stockton and Darlington, and at Shoreham Harbor : 
and lately, in consequence of the excellent appearance of the prepared 
sleepers, after three years' exposure to the weather, an order has been issued 
by ]\Ir. Robert Stephenson that the sleepers hereafter to be used on the Lon- 
don and Birmingham Railway are to be prepared with it before being put 
down. 

"For railway sleepers it is highly useful, as the commonest Scotch fir 
sleeper, when thus prepared, will last for centuries. Those which have been 
in use three years and upward, look much better now than when first laid 
down, having become harder, more consolidated, and perfectly water-proof; 
which qualities, combined vsath that of perfectly resisting the worm, render 
this process eminently useful for piles, and all other woodwork placed imder 
water." 



The following statements, made by Mr. BetheU before the London Insti- 
tute of Civil Engineers, are taken from the ' ' Civil Engineer and ArcJdtecVs 
Journal'' Vol. 29, page 323 :— 

Mr. Bethell said: " The creosoting process was not, as often described, a 
chemical process entirely. It was to a certain extent, because the creosote 
oil was the strongest coagulator of the albumen in the sap of the wood. 
But that was not his only idea when he introduced the process ; his object 



14 

was also to fill the pores of the wood with a bituminous asphaltic substance 
which rendered it water -proof , and by which, in process of time, the wood 
so treated became much more solid and harder than heart wood itself. 

' ' The result was fully shown by some specimens he had received from 
Belgium of half round sleepers creosoted by him fifteen years ago, which 
showed that all the young wood had become set, as it were, into a piece of 
solid asphalt ; and Scotch fir and Baltic timber, which had their pores 
filled with the tar oil, became entirely water-proof . Of the Scotch fir sleep- 
ers laid on the Northeastern Railway in 1841. eighty per cent are doing 
duty at the present time, and such cases of decay as have occurred were 
found to have taken place in the heart wood. The engineer of the Belgian 
State railways had sent him some specimens not long ago, which illustrated 
the same fact. He found one specimen which had lost a piece of its heart 
by decay ; but upon experimenting upon the transverse strength of that 
sleeper against a similar sleeper uncreosoted, it was found quite as strong, 
though it had lost its heart, because from the thorough impregnation of the 
bitumen the young wood had become so hard that it was more like an iron 
pipe, and he was satisfied that if it lost all the heart it would be stronger 
than a sleeper in its natural state. 

"• The half round sleepers lasted longer than the square form, because 
they retained all the young wood, and would have more creosote in it, but in 
the square sleeper it would be cut off." 

In a work lately published in France by Mons. A. Forestier, " Ingenieur 
en Chef des ponts et chaussees," may be found detailed reports of similar 
tests made for twenty-nine years in the ports of Sunderland, Teignmouth, 
Lowestoft, Leith, Southampton, Brighton, Devonshire, Manchester, Ply- 
mouth, Portland, Holyhead, Ostende, and of Sables d'Olonne, and in every 
case creosote oil was found to be the only substance v^hich would protect 
wood against the naval worm, and from dry rot and other causes of decay. 

The following extracts are taken from the work by Mons. A. Forestier, 
above referred to, and published in Paris in 1868, and entitled '''■ Mtmmre 
sur la conservation des bois d la mery 

' ' Our studies and experiments have entirely convinced us that of all the 
numerous processes hitherto known, the only one thoroughly eflBcacious is 
that of John Bethell, which consists in thoroughly impregnating wood with 
creosote." — (Page 3.) , 

" The gates of the docks at Monk-Wearmouth, at Sunderland, were, in 
1839. constructed of yellow pine treated with creosote, and 20 years after- 
wards, on the 5th of April, 1859, at the meeting of the Institution of Civil 
Engiineers, Mr. S. E. Harrison reported that they were still perfectly sound, 
while certain pieces of Kyanized wood in the same dock were very badly 
damaged by the naval worm. " 

" In 184S Mr. Brunei employed at Teignmouth creosoted wood, and at the 
meetings on jSTovember 27th and December 4th, 1849, of the Institution of 
Civil Engineers, he gave his assurance that these timbers had not been 
touched by the naval worm, while all those not creosoted had been more or 
less decayed." 

" It was in 1846, at the port of Lowestoft, that the experiment was for the 
first time tried on a grand scale of using, in salt water, wood treated with 
creosote, the occasion being the construction of two piers, in which not less 
than 1,600 piles were driven." 

' ' The happy results obtained were for a long time denied and disputed, 
and it is said that they went even to the length of offering a reward to any 
one who would produce a specimen of creosoted wood attacked by the naval 
worm." 

" In 1849 a party, interested in proving the failure of the plan, came, as- 
sisted by an engineer and passed three days in examining with tlie greatest 
care each pile, and, after this long and minute search, could discover out of 



15 

the whole 1,600 only six very slightly attacked, which must be considered 
evidently as a very slight exception, and of no consequence," 

" This experiment is so much the more conclusive, because the port of 
Lowestoft is perhaps, of all in England, the most infested with the naval 
worm and limnoria." — (Pages 11 and 12.) 

" The compilation of the facts detailed shows that creosoted wood, in- 
spected after 7, 8, 11, 13, 14 and 20 years, has been found in a perfect state 
of preservation, while, after a few years, and often after a few months, 
other specimens of the same kind of wood, subjected to the same conditions, 
have been used up. " — (Page 15. ) 

Mr. Forestier, referring to extensive experiments made in Belgium by M, 
Crepia, gives that gentleman's own words : 

"In a word, it is proven that sea water has no action on creosoted sur 
faces, and that the portions of the wood well impregnated preserve theii 
penetrating odor, and present no trace of alteration." — (Page 20.) 

Mr. Forestier also gives the conclusions reached by a Commission ap- 
pointed by the Dutch Government, and which tried faithfully and exten- 
sively various processes which purported to preserve wood. In summing 
up, the Commission says; " The sole thing that with any great probability 
can be regarded as a true preservative against the havoc to which wood is 
exposed on the part of the naval worm, is creosote oiV — (Page 36.) 

By a series of experiments, conducted in Holland under the direction of 
the Academy of Sciences of Amsterdam, it was proved that " creosote oil " 
waa the only substance which would protect wood in the shape of piles, &c., 
from the attacks of the " Teredo Navalis" (Naval worm). 



lESTIMONIALS TO THE ROBBINS PROCESS. 



From the State Assater of Massachusetts. 

Dear Sir : I have made a careful examination of the specimens of woods 
prepared by Robbins' patented method, and have made myself familiar 
with the principles involved in the process, and have learned in what cases 
the application of this method is more especially available. 

Wood, whether green or seasoned, is easUy impregnated with gaseous 
matters, and with the vapors of oil of coal-tar and other volatilizable oils, 
the moisture and the air in the wood-cells being expelled by heat, and by 
substitution of the oils, which condense in the pores of the Avood. By the 
action of the heat, the albumen of the wood is also solidified, and thus is no 
longer liable to chemical changes, especially on being so thoroughly impreg- 
nated with antiseptic fluids, which also harden in the cells. 

The products of coal-tar are powerful antiseptics : carbolic acid, or the 
creosote of coal, being one of the strongest known, capable of preserving 
both animal and vegetable matters from putrefaction, and also perfectly re- 
sisting the action of parasitic vegetation and insect depredations ; for no 
spores can vegetafce in the presence of this powerful substance, and insects 
of all kinds are at once repelled. Even the teredo, which attacks ship-tim- 
ber, wharves, and wooden piers, can make no entrance into wood prepared 
by Robbins' Process. Moisture is also expelled by the oily matter infused 
into the wood, so that it cannot swell, and, the pores being filled with bitu- 
minous matters, the wood cannot shrink. 

The samples I have seen prove all these statements, and the principles 
are well known to scientific men. 

Coal-tar has long been known to act as a preservative to wood ; but it has 
heretofore been applied in a liquid state, either by laying it on to the wood 
with a brush, or by submerging the wood in the tar or tar oil. 

So far as the coal-tar oil penetrated the wood it was found to act effi- 
ciently ; but the cells being filled with water or with air, prevented the com- 
plete saturation of the wood with the oils ; hence the process was imperfect. 
By Robbins' method this difficulty was overcome, and the oils were made to 
penetrate throughout the whole substance of the timber. This is the essen- 
tial feature of his process ; that is, the expulsion of moisture and air from 
the wood-cells, and the filling of them with bituminous or other oils, while 
the heat also effects induration of the albumen of the wood. 
Joa F. Paul, 441 Tremont St., Boston. 

Charles T. Jackson, M.D., 
Analytic and Consulting Chemist and 
State Assay er^ Massachusetts. 



From Professor Hall, of Dartmouth GoUege. 

DABTMOtrrn Collbqb, Jvly 80, 1868. 

Bobbins Wood-Preservinq Company : 

Gentlemen : The chemical nature of the material (coal-tar) employed in 
your "Process," allows me to say, that it will precipitate, or render insolu- 
ble, the albumen in the wood-cells ; that it will 'not sensibly absorb mois- 



17 

ture, consequently the prepared wood will not swell nor shrink ; that it will 
exclude the air. . . . 
I regard the process as sui>erior to all others before the public. 

L. B. Hall, 
Professor of Chemistry^ G.S.D. 



From Professor E. T. Quimby, of Dartmouth College. 

DARTMOiTTn College, Hanoter, IS. H., July 21, 1868. 
I have examined the method of preserving- wood employed under ' ' Eob- 
bins' Patent," and I am satisfied on scientific grounds that it is all it claims 
to be. I think there can be no doubt that this treatment of wood will se- 
cure two important ends, durability and freedom from shrinking- and swell- 
ing, both of which are the result of rendering the wood impervious to mois- 
ture. 

E. T. QUUTBT, 

Professor of Math, and Civ. Eng. , BaH. Cdttege. 



From Dr. A. B. Crosby, of the Uhiverm'ty of Vermont. 

Dartmotjth Medical College, Hanotee, N. H., July 20, 1868. 

I have recently examined, with much satisfaction, some specimens of 
wood subjected to a bitumenizing process, with a view to preventing dec^y. 

After a careful examination of the pieces of wood so treated, and an in- 
vestigation of the method by which it is accomplished, I am free to express 
an opinion entirely in its favor. 

The process is based on scientific principles ; the material used perfectly 
preservative ; and the appearance of the specimens presented warrants the 
belief that this most useful invention will eventually come to be employed 
wherever wood is used, even in the most common arts. 

Taking into account its simplicity, cheapness, and efficiency, I am of the 
opinion that the invention cannot fail to prove invaluable to the world, and 
exceedingly remunerative to its owners. 

A. B. Crosby, M.D., 
Prof. Surgery University of Vermont^ Dart. Med. Col. , eto. 



From Dr. Thomas R. Crosby, of Washington^ D. C. 

House of Eepeesentatiyes, Concoed, IS. H., June 80, 1868. 

Having examined, with a good deal of care, the specimens of wood pre- 
served in accordance with the methods of Robbins Wood-Preserving Company's 
Patents, as also the chemical principles upon which the process is based, I 
am prepared to express my entire conviction of its great utility in all the 
immense variety of uses to which wood is put. 

It is believed that the wood subjected to this process, if not abso- 
lutely rendered indestructible, has its durability increased many fold. Its 
strength is also, as has been found by experiment, very materially increas- 
ed ; and when we consider, in addition, that green wood is, in a few hours, 
seasoned more perfectly than by years by any of the old methods, thereby 
causing a great saving in time, and a very large diminution of the capital 
required in the prosecution of many of the manufactures into which wood 
largely enters, we cannot hesitate in pronouncing this one of the great dis- 
coveries of the age. 

Its utility to the farmer, and in fact to every man who has a rod of fence 
or a ditch to maintain, must be obvious. In fact, it is difficult to imagine 
a class in the community or a material interest that will not be benefited by 
the general introduction of this wood-preserving process. It commends 



18 

itself by the ease and cheapness of its practical application, as well as by 
the harmony of the principles on which it rests with chemical science. 
Thomas R. Crosby, M.B., 

Bvt. Lt. - Gol. , late Surgeon N. H. V. ; Prof. 
OerCl Surgery, Nat. Med. Col., Washington, J). C. 



From Professor Schanck, of Princeton GoUege. 

College of New Jeesey, Princetok, Jfarch 23, 1S68. 

Col. J. E. Peyton : 

My Dear Sir: Your note is at hand, I extremely regret to believe 
that I shall be unable to leave my duties here on the day appointed for the 
meeting- of the delegates from The Robbing Wood-Preserving Company of 
several States, including New Jersey. You know my views respecting this 
process, and its effect upon wood. You heard what I felt called upon to 
say to our Senior Class, when speaking to them of the great value and nu- 
merous important applications of the coal-tar products. I then believed, 
and now still more fully believe, in the great value of these compounds for 
preserving wood, as applied by the Robbins Process. When you have 
thoroughly permeated a stick with naphtha and creosote — like vapors, and 
ca,rbolic acid, and paraifine — and at the same time expelled all moisture, no 
chemist will hesitate to pronounce the stick preserved and protected from 
decay. And this is the whole case. It needs but few words ; a stick or a 
board may be split or pounded to pieces, or may be burned. This you do 
not propose to prevent. But to provide against the rotting and decay of 
timber is a demand which I consider the Robbins Process competent to sup- 
ply. And this is a great affair. When for fencing, for timber and building 
anaterials, for railroad ties and bridges, and rolling stock and wharves, an 
addition of five or ten per cent, to the cost will increase the durability, and 
pioiong the lifetime two, three, or five hundred per cent., saving at the 
saane time the expense of paint, it is not diflBcult to appreciate the value to 
tke world of this application of science to the increasingly important art of 
preserving wood. If 100,000 acres were stripped of timber in the single 
State of Michigan, last year, it is time we awoke to the imperative neces- 
sity that exists for some steps in the direction of wood preservation. 

This matter has its bearing on our shipping interests also. Wherever 
tfcimbeir, or plank, or canvas, or cordage, are liable to decay, or dry-rot, or 
mould, or mildew, there the Robbins Process is the antidote. Let those 
interested see to this. 

But I esteem this treatment of wood for its preservation scarcely more 
important than for its prompt and perfect seasoning. To completely sea- 
son a ^reeu stick, or board, within a few hours, so as not only to expel all 
its water, but leave it in a condition to absorb no more and thus never swell 
again ; to convert green oak, or hemlock, into the equivalent of seasoned 
locust— this is a great desideratum. Builders, and wood-workers, and wood- 
users will understand this. 

The chemijstry of this process is right. I beheve the practice of it will 
satisfy all reasonable expectations ; you may say this for me to any who are 
interested in knowing my opinions. 

Yours very truly, 

J. S. Schanck, 
Professor of Chemistry, Princeton College^ N. J. 



From Dr. Guyot. 

PBiNORTOif, N. J., May 6, 186P, 

Col. J. E. Peyton : 

Dear Sir : Having read with care the letter written to you by my friend 
and colleague. Dr. Schanck, on the Robbins Wood-Preserving Process, I beg 
to say that I fully concur in the opinion expressed by him, on the correct 



19 

ness of the scientific principle on wMcli it rests, and on the extensive prac- 
tical uses to which it may be applied. 

I trust that the country will soon appreciate its value, and reap the full 
benefit which can be derived from it. 

I remain respectfully yours, 

A. GUYOT, 

Professor of Geology and Physical Geography, 

Princeton, N. J. 



From Professor Cook, of New Brunswick^ If. J. 

New Brunswick, N. J., March 24, 1S68. 

Col. J. E. Peyton : 

Dear Sir: I regret that my duties are such as to prevent my leaving 
home to-morrow. It would be an occasion of much interest to me to meet 
the gentlemen who are to take the lead in introducing the Robbins Wood- 
Preserving Process. 

The chemistry of the process, both in the preservative and protecting 
substances used, and in the way of applying them, is so complete as to 
scarcely leave anything further to be 'desired. The article on ' ' Carbolic 
Acid " in a late number of the Chemical Neics, you already have. The au- 
thor of it is probably the best authority in the world on the subject, and his 
testimony is entirely in its favor. The short article on " Napthalin" in the 
same paper gives a summary of what is known of that substance ; a solid, 
impenetrable to water, insoluble in it; melting at ITS'", and boiling at 428° ; 
its vapor follows that of the carbolic acid (which goes off at about 860"), 
and forms a firm protecting coat in the whole outer portions of the wood, 
and supplements admirably the preservative properties of the carbolic acid. 

In addition to the preservative properties so useful for wood, the late in- 
vestigations of Mulder show that coal-tar contains the best known materials 
for a protecting coat against the rusting of iron. 

An article in the London Engineer, of November 15, 1867, on the Bethell 
method of creosoting. and its effect on the strength of timber, is made from 
the report of M. Forestier, Engineer in Chief of the French Ponts et 
Chaussees, to the Paris Exposition. He proved that creosoted fir-wood pre- 
sented a coherence of fibres, and an elasticity and hardness much superior to 
what it possessed before. In trying the resistance to bending, it was found 
that the flexibility of wood was increased by creosoting, A large number 
of experiments were made, which uniformly showed that creoooted wood 
was capable of resisting a much greater crushing force than wood which 
had not been treated. 

He also proved that such wood is completely proof against the marine 
worm, teredo navalis. 

With such facts in favor of the principles involved in the Robbins Process, 
and such testimony in its favor, and so extensive a field in which to apply 
it, there is, in my opinion, good reason for sanguine expectations of busi- 

I remain yours truly, 

GrEORGE H. COOK, 

State Geologist and Prof, of C7iem. , Butgers Col. 



From tJie Faculty of Harvard College. 

Cambridge, Sept. 9th, 1868. 
The undersigned acknowledge their belief that it (the Rob- 
bins Process) will prove one of the most valuable methods yet made known 



for preserving wood, hemp, linen, and cotton from insects, mildew, and de 
cay, under every exposure, and for actually strengthening the fibre. 

Thomas Hill, 

President of H<wvard College. 

JosiahP. Cooke, Jr., 
Ewing Professor of Chemistry and Mineralogy^ Harvard CoUege. 

WOLCOTT GiBBS, 

Rumford Professor of the Application of Science to Art, Harva/rd College^ 
and Head of Chemical Department in Lawrence Scientific School. 

H. L. EusTis, 
Professor of Engineering in the Lawrence Scientific School, H. C. 

Benjamin Pierce, 
Perkins Prof, of Astron^omy and Mathematics in Harva/rd CoUege, and Sup't 
Coast Survey. 



Fromithe City Physician of Boston. 

Office of thb City Physician, 

City Hall, Boston, JVovem^ber 16, 1868. 
Jos. F. Paul, Esq., 

Bear Sir : Your letter of October 17th was duly received, in which you 
call my attention, officially, to the value of carbolic acid as a disinfectant, 
and request my opinion as to the sanitary advantage to be derived from the 
use of wood treated by the so-called " Bobbins Preservative Process," dur- 
ing which it becomes saturated with that agent. 

With regard to the first point — its disinfectant and antiseptic property — 
carbolic acid is one of the most powerful of its class, in the present state of 
our knowledge. Dr. E. R. Squibb, of Brooklyn, N. Y., th« well known 
chemist, in an article on disinfectants recently published, when speaking 
of this substance says : " Creosote and carbolic acid partake somewhat of 
the character of gaseous disinfectants or deodorizers, or at least occupy the 
intermediate ground, partaking of the nature of both gaseous and solid dis- 
infectants, and are all available and effective for many special purposes. 
Creosote and carbolic acid, as well as the coal-tar from which the latter is 
separated, are all powerfully antiseptic, and possess the singular property, 
not only of arresting the putrefactive process, but also of preventing its re- 
currence, and of destroying the lower order of living beings which belong 
to or result from these fermentations." It is difficult to over-estimate the 
value of these two properties. By the one the putrefactive process in 
arrested at once ; by the other it is prevented from recommencing ; so that 
by the combined influence of the two, articles which have been impregnated 
with carbolic acid or creosote become imperishable, at least in so far as de- 
cay of material is concerned. 

To the sanitarian, therefore, it commends itself in the strongest manner, 
for, by means of this treatment of wood, he has at his command a material 
which is not only durable, but which is also constantly acting to counteract 
those processes by which deleterious gases are set free to contaminate the 
atmosphere. For wooden pavements, for flooring of stables, the planking 
of alleys, cellars, or places where dampness produces early decay, or filth 
accumulates from the use of urinals or privies, for drains, in short for every- 
thing where a corrective agency united to permanence and stability of 
structure is desirable, and wood must be the material used, Carbolicized or 
Creosoted Wood is without a rival. So impressed am I, on mature consider- 
ation, of its value in this respect, that I shall avail myself of the earliest 
opportu.nity to bring the subject before the Board of Health of this city, 
and urge upon them the propriety of not only adopting it for the city's use, 



21 

bnt of compelling individuals to use it in the connections already mention- 
ed, as far as they may have power to enforce such a provision. I can see 
no other way in which at so little cost so much can be done to remedy long- 
standing evils of this kind, and prevent their recurrence in future. 
I am, my dear sir, very respectfully yours, 

William Read, M.D., 

City Fliysidan. 



From Prof. Charles T, Jackson, State Assayer to Massachusetts. 

BosTOK, Sept. 12. 1S6S. 

Chas. C. Dunbar, Esq. : 

Dear Sir : I have made a careful chemical examination of the speci- 
mens of Stafford paving-blocks of wood treated by Robbins' Patent Process, 
which you brought me, and now communicate to you my results. 

The blocks of wood were split in the middle, and portions of the central 
mass of wood were cut out and searched by proper solvents for carbolic 
acid, naphthalin, and the heavy bituminous oils of coal-tar. 

I found all of those substances present in the centre of the blocks of 
wood. 

As to discoloration as a test of the permeation of the bituminous oils and 
carbolic acid, I would observe that no change of color of the wood is pro- 
duced by their presence in the interior, but only on the exterior, this sur- 
face-darkening arising from the oxidation by the air and heat, affecting the 
outside of the blocks only. 

It is ascertained by experience that wood prepared by exposure to a tem- 
perature above 212" F. , and by impregnation with bituminous matter and 
carbolic acid, will not undergo decay foom the usual causes of decomposi- 
tion of wood, namely, fermentation or putrefaction, dry rot, insect depre- 
dations, fungoid growths in and on the wood, etc., the bituminous oils 
effectually excluding the ingress of moisture, and carbolic acid acting as an 
antiseptic and vermifuge, and also completely protecting the wood from the 
spores of fungi. 

(Signed) Charles T. Jackson, 

State Assayer to Massachusetts^ Analytic and Consulting Chemist. 



From Superintendent of BaUways centring in Concord. 

Cois-COED, N. H., August 14, 1S68. 

Col. J E. Peyton: 

Dear Sir : You ask our opinion of the Robbins Process for treating wood. 
So well convinced are we of its value for preserving ties, bridge timber, 
fence material, and other woods used in the construction and repairs of rail- 
roads, that, after a careful investigation, we, as superintendents of the va- 
rious roads centring here, have concluded to erect works for the purpose 
of treating material. 

J. A. Dodge, Swpt. B. C. & M. R. R. 

Jas. R. Kendrick, Supt. Concord R. R. 

Geo. E. Todd, Supt. Nm-thern R. R. 

A. M. Shaw, Eng. Northern R. R. 

From the Agent of the Amoskeag Manufacturing Co. 

Manchestee, August 14, 1868. 
Dear Sir: I am so well satisfied of the preservative qualities of the ma- 
terial used in the Robbins Patent Process, and the manner of applying it, 
that I shall, as early as convenient, convert the sixty-foot tank, capacity of 
ten thousand feet, now used by the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company for 
Bumettizing, into use under the Robbins patent. 

Very respectfully yours, 

E. A. Straw, Agent. 



22 

Fimn Chickeking & Sons, the celebrated Pianoforte Manufacturers. 

Boston, Mass., August 6th, 1868. 

We have examined the subject with great care, and 

believe it (the Bobbins Process) to be the readiest and most perfect procesa 
for seasoning- wood known. It is a perfect guarantee against expansion 

and contraction by the changes of the atmosphere 

Chickering & Sons. 



From Prof. E. S. Wayne, of Cindnnati. 

Cincinnati, April 22, 1869. 

EDVfARD S. Wayne, Esq. 

Dear Sir : There has been presented to us for consideration a process for 
preserving wood from decay, and from attacks of the naval worm and in- 
sects. 

The claims of the so-called " Bobbins Process" are certainly very remark- 
able, and we would like to have your opinion of its merits, scientific and 
practical. 

Eespectfully yours, 

W. H. Shoenbergbr. 

Cincinnati, April 26, 1869. 

Dear Sir : In reply to yonr communication of the 22d I would say, that 
having made the necessary tests, I am prepared to answer your questions as 
to the Bobbins Process, 

The idea of saturating wood with coal-tar, or the products of its distil- 
lation (commonly known as tar or creosote oils), is not new. The preser- 
vative properties of these substances have long been known, and fully 
established by practical tests ; but since no plan has heretofore accomplished 
a perfect saturation of the wood with them, the desired end has been 
only partially attained. Of all the various patents and methods proposed, 
such as immersing and dipping the wood in hot coal-tar, injecting the oils 
by high pressure, and the application of heat, none has been successful in 
accomplishiDg more than a superficial or partial saturation. 

The Bobbins Process differs from aU others, in that it submits the wood 
to the combined influence of highly rarefied, and consequently penetrative, 
oleaginous vapors, the result of which, as proven by my analysis, is a per- 
fect saturation of the wood. 

Specimens of both soft and hard woods, treated by this process, I find to 
be saturated with creosoter oil. , . . 

The experiments of the Dutch government prove that wood, properly 
creosoted, lasts longer than when treated by any other process, and resists 
the attacks of the teredo, the worm or mollusc so destructive not only of 
the wooden hulls of vessels in almost every sea, but also of the wooden 
dykes of that country, and this agent was the only one of the great number 
tried which afforded immunity from the attack of the naval worm. The 
mineral substances used were slowly but completely dissolved out, and the 
wood was left unprotected, while the creosote oils, not being soluble in 
water, were retained by the wood. The action of the creosote upon the 
worm may be understood from the fact that its body, being a gelatinous 
mass, becomes coagulated by the creosote with which it comes in contact. 

The efficacy of coal-tar oils for the preservation of wood has thus been 
clearly demonstrated, and the most effectual method to employ them is that 
of the Bobbins Patent. There is no question in my mind on this point, and 
at the same time I would say, that it is the most economical — more so than 
Burnett's, or any other process involving the use of mineral salts. It is 
also free from the deleterious effects which the poisonous salts have upon 
those engaged in treating wood or handling it after treatment. 

Compared with Bumettizing, or similar treatment with solutions of 



mineral salts, such as sulphate of copper, chloride of zinc, or corrosive sub- 
limate, I consider this saturation of wood with creosote oils superior in every 
respect. Long experience and practical tests have fully demonstrated this to 
be so. The saturation of wood with mineral solutions is never perfect, and 
the process is expensive ; and I am of the opinion, from what I have seen, 
that even if perfect saturation could be attained it would be of very ques- 
tionable value, as the agents used must, in time, act destructively upon the 
woody fibre. They have also a tendency to cause the wood to absorb mgis- 
ture more readily from the atmosphere or the soil, and thus to bring this 
destructive agency to assist in the work of decay, whereas wood saturated 
with creosote oils is free from the above-mentioned causes of decay. It is 
repellant of moisture, because every fibre is coated with a protecting film of 
oil. Moreover, hot hydrocarbon oils unite with the natural resins in such 
woods as fat pine, and hold them in such intimate combination that they 
cannot be dissolved out by water, to which, under ordinary circumstances, 
they are liable to a greater or less extent. 

Respectfully yours, &c, , 

E. S. Wayne, 
Analytic and Consulting Chemist. 



From Messrs. j^bbot. Downing & Co., Coach Builders. 

CoNCOKD, N. H., May 14, 1868. 

We have such faith in the process (Robbins') that we 

have already applied it to the felloes of wheels on carriages sent to Louisia- 
na and Texas, and have no doubt of beneficial results 

Abbot, Downing & Co. 



From Kimball Bros. & Co., Carnage Manufacturers. 

Boston, Mass., August 1st, 1868. 

Dear Sir : Specimens of hubs and other carriage material 

that we have examined show no indication of checking, and we are satisfied 
had been better seasoned in a few hours than they could be in a long time 
by any former process. Wood not beiag liable under this treatment (Rob- 
bins') to expand or contract makes it very desirable in the manufacture of 

coaches and carriages 

Kimball Bros. & Co. 



From Joseph F. Paul, Lumber Merchant. 

BosToiir, Aicgust 7, 1868. 

Col. J. E. Peyton : 

Dear Sir : In answer to your inquiries as to the practical tests made by 
me of wood treated under the Robbins Patent Process, I would respect- 
fully state that works were erected under my direction in February last, in 
which I had numerous specimens of various kinds of wood treated both in 
the rough and manufactured state. In no instance have I had a failure. 
The effect upon black walnut gives a striking illustration of the action of 
the process upon wood. I have 'taken it in a perfectly green state, and in 
a few hours seasoned it more thoroughly than I have been able to do in any 
length of time under the ordinary process. Newel posts and baluster rail- 
ings taken in the rough, treated and worked afterward, have never checked 
nor warped, and when polished, present a better finish than by the old 
method of filling in. The same will apply to all other woods treated and man- 
ufactured at our works. I am also satisfied that the strength of the wood 
is greatly increased. As to its durability, all scientific and practical men, 
who have investigated the subject, concur in the opinion that wood thus 
treated is not affected by mould and decay. 

Very respectfully yours, 

Joseph F. Paul. 



24 
From W. L. Hanscom, late United States Nanal Constructor. 

Boston, August 7, 1868. 

Colonel J. E. Peyton: 

Dear Sir: Having examined with care specimens of various kinds of 
wood treated by the Bobbins Patent Process, I am fully convinced that the 
preservative properties of coal-tar can be applied to timber of any length or 
size, and, when thoroughly treated, will last for an indefinite period, and 
that the strength of the wood is greatly increased. 

The preservative properties of coal-tar are so well understood that I need 
scarcely refer to anything but the manner of its application. 

I can readily perceive that by the application of heat the oil is easily sepa- 
rated, the lighter portion (naphtha) being carried through the pores of the 
wood, removing all air and moisture, followed by the well-known powerful 
antiseptic, carbolic acid, then paraffine, and the heavier oils, which, con- 
densing in the pores, and not being soluble in water, will, in my judgment, 
preserve the wood until it wears out. 

I am satisfied that ship plank, treated by the Robbins Process, vdll be 
thoroughly protected from the destructive marine worm, teredo navalis, 
which ought to be a suflScient guaranty of its early introduction and general 
•use in the marine service. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

W. L. Hanscom, 
Late U. S. Naval Constructor. 



From 0. K. Kirbt, Architect. 

Boston, August 18, 1868. 

Colonel J. E. Peyton, Pa/rker House : 

Bear Sir: I have examined the Robbins Process for preserving wood, 
and have come to the conclusion that it is the best and only satisfactory 
method that has ever been brought to my notice for the treatment of wood 
to prevent its decay and contraction and expansion. 

I make no pretensions to a knowledge of chemistry, but I am well ac- 
quainted with nearly all kinds of wood, and have worked in, and used them 
4iwenty-five years. I have seen and felt the necessity of something of this 
kind, and I believe this process is the most important discovery of the age 
pertaining to wood. Yours truly, 

C. K. KmBY, Architect 



From Hiram Emeky, Lumler Merchant.^ Boston^ Mass. 

Boston, September 12, 1868. 

Bear Sir : Your note, asking my opinion of the different processes now 
in use for preserving wood, and particularly of the so-called " Robbins Pro- 
cess," is at hand. In reply, I would say, that I have been thoroughly con- 
versant with the manner of treating lumber for its better preservation from 
decay by the Bumettizing and Kyanizing processes, from the time of their 
introduction to the public in this city, by having millions of feet treated 
myself. 

I have also thoroughly investigated the " Robbins Process " of treating 
wood by impregnation with carbolic acid, and other products of coal-tar in 
a vaporized state. By the latter process, the wood being subjected to a heat 
above 212' F. , the sap is converted into steam, and this passing off, the 
pores become filled with the products of coal-tar, which not only preserve 
the wood from rot and decay, but by actual experience add greatly to its 
strength ; thus making it of the utmost importance for all timber used for 
bridges, railroads, wharves, and many other purposes for which wood is 
used. 

I shall recommend the " Robbins Process " to all my customers in prefer- 
ence to any other yet introduced. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

Hiram Emery 



From Presidents op Subordinate Companies. 

Boston, Jan. 2. 1869. 

At a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Wood Pre- 
serving- Company, it was — Eesolved, That the numerous treatments of 
wood at the Suffolk Works in this city fully establish all that has been 
claimed for the Process (Robbins') by the inventor. 

W. W. Blackmer, Clerk. Joseph F. Paul, President. 



At a meeting of the Connecticut Wood Preserving Company, held at 
New Haven, January 8th, 1869, it was Resolved, That from the practical 
tests and experiments made by this Company, we are entirely satisfied of 
its (Robbins' Wood Preserving Process) intrinsic value and general adapta- 
tion to the uses and purposes designed. 

D. B. Calhoun, Secreta/ry. Wm. H. Bradley, President. 



At a meeting of The Robbins Wood Preserving Company of New Hamp- 
shire, held in Concord, January 8th, 1869, it was Besolved, That after 
close scrutiny and severe tests we fully endorse the process (Robbins' Pa- 
tent) as meeting the expectations of its usefulness raised by the represen- 
tations of the owners of the right. 

Sam'l 0. Eastman, Secreta/ry. John S. Abbot, President. 

From CoL. Robert S. Swords. 

AsTOE House, Netv Yoek, Jan. 14, 1869. 

Gentlemen : The flooring and joists of my own 

dwelling, owing to the dampness from the cellar, had rotted badly, and 

my house was greatly infested with ants, roaches, &c 

I have caused all the flooring and joists to be taken up and replaced with 
lumber treated by the Robbins Process. After many months, I find it per- 
fectly dry, and aU the insects have been driven away 

Col. Robt. S. Swords, 

Princeton, N. J. 

Test of increase of strength impa/rted hy the BohUns Process. 

The treatment of wood by the " Robbins Process " also adds to its 
strength. This fact has been reduced to certainty. Colonel M. O. 
Davidson, Chief Engineer of the " New Haven and Derby RaUroad," ob- 
tained certain pieces of wood, which he sawed, and caused one-half of each 
to be treated by the ' ' Robbins Process. " He then sent the piece treated, 
and the piece untreated, of each kind of wood to Alban C. Stimers, Naval 
Engineer, No. 45 William Street, New York, and requested him to make a 
thorough test of the relative strength of each piece. 

The following is an extract from the Report of Mr. Stimers : 
The transverse strength is the most important in wood, and leaving out 
the oak, which was imperfect, we find that Robbinsizing adds to the 
strength of 

White Pine 87 per cent. 

WhiteAsh. 50 " 

In conclusion, he says : 

If we take a case of practical dimensions, such as a beam of 20 feet 
Jong between supports, 6 inches wide, and 16 inches deep, we find that 
the ultimate strain required to be applied to the middle wUl be as follows, 
in each case : 

White Pine in its natural state 20.966 lbs. 

Robbinsized 28.877 " 

White Ash in its natural state 51. 272 " 

Robbinsized 76.723 " 



26 
From The Health Officer of Toledo. 

Office of the Boaeu op Health, 

Toledo, O., June 25, 1869. 

Dea/r Sir : The following is the report of a microscopical examination 
of several specimens of wood submitted to Dr. Hemy A. Root and myself 
for examination last evening. Four specimens were submitted : 

No. 1. A piece of Nicholson paving block, which had been prepared in 
the usual way, by dipping in liquid coal-tar. 

No. 2. A piece of Nicholson paving block taken from the pavement in 
Sixth Street, Cincinnati, having been in place two years. 

No. 3. A piece of Nicholson paving block saturated with the vapor of cre- 
osote oil by the " Bobbins Process." 

No. 4. A section of hemlock joist treated by the same process. 

Specimen No. 1, under a lens of 850 diameters, exhibited nothing unu- 
sual in appearance, the fibres being parallel, and the cells clearly defined and 
arranged in regular order and distances. 

No. 2, was completely decayed, the regular structure destroyed, and 
only a faint outline here and there indicating the existence of the cells. 

No. 3, exhibited the structure of the wood perfect, with large deposits 
of oil globules in the sap tubes overlying the cells and adjacent to the 
woody fibres. 

No. 4. This specimen, although not showing such thorough creosotage to 
the naked eye, yet exhibited under the microscope as clea.r evidence of the 
presence of the oil globules as specimen No. 3. The wood being hemlock, 
there was a difference in the internal arrangement of the fibre and cells. 

My opinion, based upon the above examination, is that the Robbins Pro- 
cess is effectual for introducing oleaginous vapors into the interior structure 
of wood and to remove the putrescible sap and supply an antiseptic in the 
form of carbolic acid, and lubricate and strengthen the woody structure. 

My belief is, that this treatment of paving blocks will destroy cryptoga- 
mous growths in and upon vegetable fibre, and remove the objection which 
the Board of Health urged, in a late report, to wooden pavements on the 
score of health. 

I will take the earliest opportunity to lay the whole subject before the 
Board of City Improvements, who have been charged with its iavestigatiota 
by resolution of the City Council 

John W. Bond, M.D., Health Offic&r. 

I concur in the above report of the microscopical examination. 

H. A. Root, M.D. 
H. S. Olcott, Esq., Toledo, O. 



From a communication to the Cincinnati Gazette of July 21st, 1869. upon 
the " Robbins Process," and the use of creosote oil as a preservative of -prood, 
the following extract is taken : 

It win be observed that it is signed by men who stand in the foremost rank 
in the State of Ohio as chemists and physicians. 

" The Robbius Process contemplates the simplest form of distillatiou of 
coal-tar, and the subjection of the wood to the distillates while they are in the 
condition of vapor. Thereby the wood becomes thoroughly saturated from 
circumference to centre, is perfectly and permanently seasoned, provided 
with an unchangeable and ever-active antiseptic, and primed as no soaking in 
liquid ever could prime wood. Yours respectfully, 

E. S. Wayne, 

W. Clendenin (Health Officer), 

Wm. B. Davis, M.D., 

J. F. White, M.D., 

John A. Warder." 



ADDITIONAL TESTIMONIALS 

TO THB 

PRESERVATIVE AND ANTISEPTIC PROPERTIES 

OF 

COAL-TAR CREOSOTE. 



From tJie Ameeican Artisan, May 22d, 1867. 

In the French section of the exhibition are shown railway sleepers which 
have been in use for several years. One of these sleepers, which was put 
down in March, 1859, and taken up in February, 1867, appeared as sound 
as when first cut. In the English collection is a sleeper from the Great 
Western Railway, which had been down for twenty-one years ; one from 
the Lancashire and Yorkshire line which had been down for nineteen years ; 
and one from the London and North Western Railway which had been in use 
for twenty years. These sleepers had been prepared by Mr. J. Bethell's 
process ; they are all perfectly sound, showing- that the preservative liquid 
had penetrated perfectly through each sleeper. Samples of timber are also 
shown which have been prepared with creosote, used in the construction of 
the chain pier at Edinburgh, and were perfectly sound, while timber which 
had not been so prepared was reduced to little more than half its original 
section by the effects of water and insects. 



From the New York Tribune. 

Creosoted Timber. — A creosoted sleeper, put down on the Stockton 
-and Darlington Railway, in England, in August, 1841, was taken up March 
14, 1867, after nearly 25 years' service. The grain of the wood, although 
slightly discolored by creosote, is as fresh, and apparently as tough as that 
of newly sawed timber, and the odor of creosote is as strong as if the wood 
had just been operated upon. 



On February 1st of this year Dr. P. M. Moir read a paper on methods of 
preserving wood, before the chemical section of the Philosophical Society of 
Edinburgh, Scotland, for a very full abstract of which see Van Nostrand's En- 
gineering Magazine of May, 1869. Mr. Moir says: '"Bethell's patent pro- 
cess for preserving timber by the use of creosote pitch oU, is the only one 

which really accomplishes the object aimed at Creosote 

acts very powerfully in coagulating the albumen contained in the cells of 
the wood, and besides this, it effectually preserves the fibre of the timber, and 
hence its value over all other so-called preservative agents." 

" Since the creosoting process was first introduced, in the year 1838, it has 
been extensively employed in Great Britain and Ireland ; in all countries on 
the continent where creosote oils can be obtained, France, Holland, Bel- 
gium, Germany, Spain, Portugal, and Italy ; and in India, Cape Colony, 
Brazil, and other tropical countries, to preserve timber from the attack of 



28 ■ 

the white ants. Wherever it has been properly carried out, it has been 
completely successful." "For harbor works in Scotland the creosoting 
process has been largely used. At Leith, the west pier, consisting of 1,013 
main piles, is entirely constructed of creosoted timber, and the extension of 
the east pier contains 312 main pUes, also creosoted. These erections were 
commenced in 1848 and finished in 1853, and at the present time they are 

as perfectly sound as the first day they were put down At 

Glasgow, all the wooden wharves, with the exception of the steamboat quay, 
are constructed of creosoted pine. The whole of the wharves at the King- 
ston dock are built of creosoted wood. At Port Glasgow and Greenock, tim- 
ber prepared by the Bethell process is largely used, and the same is true of 
nearly every port in England. Much attention has been given to the creo- 
soting process by the Belgian government, and so satisfactory have the 
experiments been, that no other process is used by that government." 



From The Scientific American of Septemher 8, 1866. 

" Miasmatic matter, and almost everything contaiued in the air which is 
offensive to the senses, are the products of the fermentation or the putrefac- 
tion of organic matter. Now, it has been found that carbohc acid is the 
sovereign and never-faUing anti-putrescent and antiseptic. The power of 
carbolic acid is wonderful for its promptness and its persistence. Putrefac- 
tion can neither go on nor be commenced in its presence. It preserves every- 
thing in statu quo.'''' . . . 

"It acts as a preventive. It destroys our enemy in the egg. No noxious 
effluvia can come from the matter with which it is in contact. It mixes 
kindly with everything. A very remarkable fact about it is that in doing its 
work there is no chemical change. It remains always free carbohc acid, and 
the matter with which it is surrounded continues the same as at the first in- 
stant of contact." 



From Pkofessor Hadley. 

It is my opinion that wood thoroughly saturated with gas-tar distillates 
will last for an indefinitely long period, that it will be liable to no kind of 
rot or decay, wet or dry, and that it wUl be fully protected from the attacks 
of all wood-destroying insects. 

George Hadley, 
Professor of GhemisVry in the University of Buffalo, 



From Professor Silliman. 

The peculiar value of " dead oil " (of coal-tar) has been long known and 
appreciated. 

The creosoting process, as it is called, has been for many years in use 
in Great Britain as applied to the preparation of railway ties and timbers, 
and to piles for marine wharves, and with great success. The Process of 
Bethell is the one in general use there. 

Phenol or carbolic acid exceeds all other known substances in its power of 
arresting and preventing decay, and the dead oil contains, in addition to 
this remarkable body, a form of hydrocarbon which hardens on exposure, 
and, being injected into the pores of the wood, fills them, excluding both 
atmospheric oxygen and moisture, and finally solidifies the whole into a 
resinous or pitchy body almost incapable of decay. 



29 

Beyond its antiseptic power, carbolic acid or phenol is negative. The 
term " acid," applied to this remarkable antiseptic, might awaken a suspi- 
cion that, iike the acids familiarly so known, it might corrode metals 
But carbolic acid does not act in this manner. It does not even redden 
veo-etable blues, a power possessed by the most feeble vegetable acids. It 
is called an acid by chemists only in virtue of its combining with bases. It is 
also called phenylic alcohol with the same propriety that it is an acid. The 
fact of importance in this connection is, that there is nothing in the dead 
oil which acts injuriously upon iron, which may in fact be preserved from 
oxidation by a varnish prepared from it. 

The sanitary characteristics of wood thus prepared are such as greatly to 
commend its use for the paving of streets in cities. Wood thus prepared nei- 
ther decays nor retains moisture. Carbolic acid, in fact, when used by itself, 
mingled with the most offensive sewage and cesspool matter, instantly arrests 
putrefaction, and changes and destroys the nauseating odors of decaying 
mineral matters. 

The action of dead oil as a moans of preserving wood may be thus sum- 
med up, viz. : 

1st. It coagulates albuminous substances, and gives stability to the con- 
stituents of the fibre and cellulose of young wood. 

2d. It absorbs and appropriates the oxygen which is within the pores 
of the wood, and so checks or rather prevents the exosmosis of the woody 
tissue. 

3d. It resinifies within the pores of the wood, and thus shuts out both 
air and moisture. 

4th. It acts as a positive poison to the lower form of vegetable life, and 
so protects the wood from the attacks of fungi and other parasites. * 

5th. It prevents the exhalation of any miasmas from the surface of streets, 
paved with wood thus prepared. 

B. SiLLIMAK, 

Prof, of General and Applied Chemistry in Yale College. 



Dr. F. Grace Calvert, F.E.S., &c., in 1868, in a lecture before the 
" Society for the Encouragement of Industry in France," upon the subject 
of Coal-tar and its Properties, of which carbolic acid is one of the most 
important, remarked: 

" The disinfecting or rather antiseptic properties of carbolic acid (creo- 
sote of coal-tar) are very remarkable. It destroys all sources of decay 
and decomposition. That is to say, it destroys or prevents the germs of 
putrefaction and fermentation. A very small quantity of carbolic acid will 
prevent decomposition, and its employment is therefore both eflficacious and 
economical. It meets with and destroys, as Dr. Julius Lemaire says, the 
germs or sporules which float in the atmosphere and vitiate it. 

"In fact the antiseptic properties of carbolic acid are so powerful that 
l-5000th will prevent decomposition, fermentation, or putrefaction in wine, 
blood, flour, paste, fasces. 

' ' I have much pleasure, whilst on this subject, in calling your attention to 
a very remarkable and very complete work upon the creosoting of wood, 
by M. Forestier, chief engineer of the department of La Vendee, assisted 
by M. Marin. These gentlemen have made numerous experiments, the 
result of which is that wood thus treated is preserved from decay in water 
as well as under ground, and, what is important, wood is no longer de- 
stroyed by that very destructive insect the teredo." 

"Antiseptics, such as corrosive sublimate, arsenious acids, essential 
oils, carbolic acid, etc. , act as such by destroying all source of decay and 
decomposition ; that is to say, they destroy or prevent the formation of the 

* Dr. Letheby, in the Journal of the Society of Arts, June, 1860. 



30 

germs of putrefaction and fermentation, wifhout acting upon the mineral 
or vegetable matters present. The advantage of their use is, therefore, 
that they act, when used in small quantities, upon the primary source of all 
organic matters in a state of decay ; further, they are deodorizers, for 
they prevent the formation of offensive odors, and consequently they are 
antiseptics, disinfectants, and deodorizers. The great advantages which 
carbolic acid possesses over all other antiseptics are, that it cannot be used 
for any illegal purpose, as arsenic or corrosive sublimate." 

' ' I wish all who are listening to me were medical men, for I could show, 
by numerous and undeniable facts, the advantage they might derive from 
pure carbolic or phenic acid, and if my testimony was not sufficient to con- 
vince them, I would invoke the authority of men justly esteemed amongst 
you. I would recall to you the words of the good and learned Gratiolet, 
and those of Dr. Lemaire, showing that carbolic acid is the most powerful 
acknowledged means of contending with contagious and pestilential dis- 
eases, such as cholera, typhus fever, small-pox, etc. Maladies of this 
order are very numerous, but in carbolic acid we find one of the most 
powerful agents for their prevention."— (/See "The Chemical News," 
February, 1868, pages 71 and 73.) 



Dr. E. R. Squibb, so well known for his standard pharmaceutical prepara- 
tions, has lately issued a little pamphlet, entitled " Notes on the Alcohols 
from Coal-tar," wherein he says of carbolic acid : " This substaace in very 
small quantities (how small no one yet knows) is azymotic — that is, op- 
posed to or fatal to all the lower orders of both animal and vegetable life ; 
and is antiseptic — that is, opposed to putrefaction or decay, preserving even 
the organisms which it kills. And when it is remembered that all conta- 
gious, infectious, and epidemic diseases are believed by good authorities to 
be zymotic — that is, of the character of a fermentation dependent upon 
living organisms ; and that all the processes of putrefaction and decay 
are zymotic also — that is, dependent upon the fermentations of the kind 
which are caused and kept up through the agency of cell-life, or organisms 
of low vitality, a good key to its powers and uses is at once obtained." — 
(Page 17.) 



Dr. WUliam B. Davis, of Cincinnati, says in an article on carbolic acid, 
published in the " Cincinnati Lancet and Observer," of July, 1869: 

" As an antiseptic and disinfectant, carbolic acid has no equal. 1-lOOOth, 
even 1 -5000th, will prevent decomposition, fermentation, or putrefaction of 
blood, urine, &c. 

' ' The sewers of London were kept perfectly sweet during the existence 
of cholera in 1866 by 1 -10000th part."— (Page 386.) 



In the "Chemical News" (June 1, 1866) is an article by William 
Crookes, F.E,.S., from which we extract the following (see page 257) : 

" From time immemorial, carbolic acid, creosote, or bodies containing 
them, have been used as antiseptics. Passages in Pliny, read by the light of 
chemical science, show that the Egyptians used for embalming their mum- 
mies a compound made from pitch, which must have contained large 
quanties of creosote. Carbolic acid is the active agent in tar, which, either 
in its ordinary state or burnt as a fumigator, has always held high rank 

amongst disinfectants. " 

***♦**♦** 

" Pitch oil, oil of tar, and similar products owe their value entirely to 
carbolic acid. This body may in fact be called the active principle of 
tar, just as quinine is the active principle of bark, or morphia of opium, 
and it has the advantage of being easily prepared in any country where coal 
or wood can he obtained." 



81 

' ' Hitherto attention has been almost entirely confined to the deodoriza- 
tion of gases arising from putrescence. The effect has been combated, 
whilst the removal of the cause has received scarcely any attention. Chlo- 
ride of lime, one of the strongest of the class of deodorizers, acts, as has 
been shown, only on the gases of existing putrefaction, but it has no in- 
fluence over the future. Carbolic acid, on the other hand, has scarcely any 
action on foetid gases ; but it attacks the cause which produces them, and 
at the same time puts the organic matter in such a state that it never re- 
acquires its tendency to putrefy," — (Page 258.) 



Dr. Ellis, of Bangor, England, says : 

* ' I have in many instances allowed whole families to return to cottages 
in which persons had died of cholera, after having had the cottages well 
washed and cleansed with carbolic acid, and in no case were the persons 
attacked by the disease." 



In the report of the conference of medical men assembled at Weimar, in 
1857, Professors Klob and Thome state that "they have discovered a 
minute microscopical growth that seems, thus far, to be exclusively pro- 
duced in cholera excrements. The spores of that little growth multiply 
with marvellous rapidity, and they are not destroyed by ordinary doses of 
chlorine or chloride of lime, but are killed by carbolic acid." 



Dr. Lenain, a French chemist, states that carbolic acid vapor will kill 
flies, ants, lice, bugs, ticks, acari, musquitoes, aplides, butterflies, earwigs, 
woodlice, cockchafers, centipedes, and ofeher insects of this size, but it does 
not seem to act injuriously on animals larger than mice. 

* It possesses, also, most wonderful properties as a disinfectant, and was 
used with encouraging results in treating the cattle plague in England. 



New Brunswick, Nov. 24, 1869, 
J. W. Fielder, Esq. — Dear Sir: The experiments I have in progress for 
testing the value of the Bobbins' Wood-preserving Process, are upon two ty- 
ing-posts of white birch — the most perishable of all our woods ; hemlock-tim- 
ber in place of white-oak for the platform of a Fairbanks' scale,— and hemlock 
plank for the steps of a garden terrace. It is too soon for any positive 
conclusions from these experiments. There is as yet no evidence of decay 
even in the birch, which has now been exposed for two summers ; — and I con- 
fidently expect that the process will effect what it promises to ; and that the 
cheap and common varieties of wood may be substituted for the more ex- 
pensive kinds, — and that they wiU last longer and cost less. 

Respectfully yours, 

Geo. H. Cook. 



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